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Friday, February 21, 2014

Product Review: Brother Lock 1034D Serger Machine

I bought this machine from Amazon, and it arrived quickly, with no problem (but oddly, the seller sent it in the colorful, come-steal-me box it comes in; with no outer wrapping or carton (I'm just glad I was home, and noticed it sitting on the front step!).

I was new to serging, though have been sewing for over 40 years on a regular machine. Everyone hears such horrible stories about serging: the horror of threading the machine, how to handle all those cones of thread, and more, so I never felt I had the time to learn something new that might be tricky.

This machine, however, is perfect for a novice serger. It's not totally overloaded with features that you won't understand as a beginner, but it has enough features that you will be satisfied with the projects you can undertake (seams, decorative serging, etc., that you can use on clothing, curtains, crafts, pillows, and even quilting with unique exposed seams!). After opening the carton (and I had let it sit unopened for a few months, thinking I had to set a block of time apart for it), in three days I have made two blouses and a bedspread! I definitely recommend this machine.

Pardon the wrinkles on the T-shirt; I didn't even want to take the time to press the fabric, because I was having such fun making it. The material is a striped knit fabric that was in a fabric stash bag that a former sewist gave to me; I made the skull applique with a bit of yellow gingham, and the flower from a bit of fleece that was also in that bag. For a pattern, I simply traced a favorite existing shirt of mine (it was a scrub shirt) onto the knit fabric, and cut around it, leaving about 1/4" (to allow for the serger knife cutting).

For this bedspread, I also made it a stash-busting project....I already had the pre-sewn quilt patchwork top that I had purchased from a charity shop where they teach their wards how to sew, and other skills (the quilt top was nicely made, and pre-washed, too!). I added the ruffled border along the edges from some broadcloth yardage I had, and found a forgotten stash of ruffled eyelet trim to top it all off. Now, I must make a bolster for that black pillow....